Richie's Picks: GHOST OF SPIRIT BEAR by Ben Mikaelsen, HarperCollins, June
2008, 154p. ISBN: 978-0-06-009007-4
"Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity"
-- Black-Eyed Peas, "Where is the Love?"
"Cole blinked back his feelings of fear and frustration. On the island he
had learned to control his emotions. He had learned from Garvey and another
Tlingit elder Edwin that he could never fully get rid of anger because it was
a memory. But he had also learned to focus on the good. A good day wasn't a
day without clouds but rather a day when one focused on finding the sunlight
behind the clouds."
There are times when I am really excited about getting to read the sequel to
a great book. There have been plenty of occasions when I’ve been left
hungering for more as I shut the cover of a book that has really engaged me.
“’Don’t you even want to know what happened?’
“’Exactly what you let happen,’ Garvey said.”
Sometimes I am surprised to learn that an author has written a sequel. The
first book might have been truly exceptional, but it really felt as if it had
been a complete story. In some cases I react skeptically or cynically to
hearing about an upcoming sequel. Might an author be returning to the
familiar environs of previous characters for a second story because it is an easy
way to go or in order to simply take advantage of an existing audience base?
Does he or she really have more to say?
"Garvey shrugged…'You had it easy on the island with nobody in your face.'"
Ben Mikaelsen’s TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR is a truly exceptional book that has
certainly built a tremendous audience base. The story of teenager Cole
Matthews experiencing the Native American system of Circle Justice, and being
exiled to a remote Alaskan island for a year after brutally assaulting schoolmate
Peter Driscal, causing his victim to suffer brain damage, has wowed
adolescent readers. Here in California its popularity was evidenced years ago by
its
winning the California Young Reader Medal in the Middle School category.
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR has since found its way into the curriculum in numerous
language arts classrooms. Elsewhere it has picked up Nevada’s Young Reader’s
Award, Utah’s Beehive Award, North Dakota’s Flicker Tale Children’s Book
Award, and was named an ALA Best Books for Young Adults selection.
“’Wh-wh-why don’t you guys just leave us alone,’ Peter said.
“’Wh-wh-why don’t you just shut your face, retard,’ Keith said, giving
Peter a shove. ‘We don’t like gimps.’
“Fear showed in Peter’s eyes, and Cole stepped forward. ‘We haven’t done
anything to you. Leave Peter alone,’ he said, his hands tightening into
fists.”
I never expected to see a sequel to TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR and was somewhat
skeptical of what -- I assumed -- would be a story involving Cole’s and/or Peter
’s returning to the island for a second go-round with Spirit Bear. Instead,
GHOST OF SPIRIT BEAR involves the two teens facing a different challenge --
returning to high school where everyone knows the score and certain bullies
are out to cause them serious trouble.
"'There are times you fight with your fists -- that's called violence.
There are times when you lie down -- that's called pacifism. What you guys did
with the cell phone worked, but that was trickery. And sometimes, like today,
you fought with a threat -- that's fear. But there are other choices.'
"'Like what?' Cole could feel his anger taking over. 'You're just messing
with my head.'
"Garvey reached out and tapped Cole's chest. 'Try fighting with your heart
sometime.'"
GHOST OF SPIRIT BEAR is a powerful and brilliantly-executed sequel. I can
just imagine someone challenging Ben Mikaelsen to try and take the
life-altering process Cole goes through on the island and apply it to surviving
the
social challenges and conflicts regularly experienced in a Twenty-first Century
high school.
"'It's not that easy,' Cole protested. 'I can't just snap my fingers and
fix a whole school.'
"'Did I say it would be easy?' said Garvey. 'But when the ground is torn
up, that's when you plant seeds.'"
Cole and Peter first try to deal with these challenges and conflicts at
school by attempting to replicate some of the discipline-building routines they
employed on the island. But they must come to recognize that additional
strategies must be employed here in the “real world” in order to learn and
share
the lessons of Spirit Bear. On one hand, Cole and Peter learn how to speak
up and become activists in their school. On the other, they cannot succeed
until they learn that they cannot control others; they can only control
themselves.
I continue to love the unforgettable adventure, danger, and self-exploration
of TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR. It is a must-read for middle school students.
But Ben Mikaelsen sure had more to say about the issues and characters from
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR. The manner in which he illustrates in GHOST OF SPIRIT
BEAR how the philosophy of the Circle Justice system fits into a
Twenty-first Century high school environment makes this an equally exceptional
story and
one to be added to the list of the best bullying books out there for middle
school students.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
Moderator, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks
Caldecott '09
**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
Home.
(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15&ncid=aolhom00030000000001)
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